State v. Beal

142 So. 3d 124, 13 La.App. 5 Cir. 925, 2014 WL 1923232, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 1274
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 14, 2014
DocketNo. 13-KA-925
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 142 So. 3d 124 (State v. Beal) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Beal, 142 So. 3d 124, 13 La.App. 5 Cir. 925, 2014 WL 1923232, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 1274 (La. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

SUSAN M. CHEHARDY, Chief Judge.

| ¡.On appeal, defendant challenges the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence. For the following reasons, we affirm and, due to an error patent, remand for correction of the commitment.

Facts and Procedural History

In this case, defendant’s conviction resulted from a guilty plea so the circumstances surrounding the charged offense [126]*126were gleaned from the record, including testimony presented at defendant’s suppression hearing. The record reflects that, on December 5, 2011, defendant was arrested for possession of heroin, in violation of La. R.S. 40:966(C).

On January 11, 2012, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney filed a bill of information charging defendant, Wardell Beal, with one count of possession of heroin, a violation of La. R.S. 40:966(C). On August 8, 2012, the day that trial was to commence, defendant filed a motion to suppress evidence, which was heard and denied. That same day, defendant withdrew his former plea of not guilty and entered a plea of guilty as charged under State v. Crosby, 338 So.2d 584 (La.1976).3 Thereafter, the trial judge sentenced defendant to six years and eight months at hard labor, with credit for time served.

Additionally on August 8, 2012, the State filed a multiple offender bill of information, and defendant stipulated to being a second felony offender. The trial court then vacated defendant’s underlying sentence and imposed an enhanced sentence, pursuant to La. R.S. 15:529.1, of six years and eight months at hard labor without benefit of probation or suspension of sentence.

On September 6, 2012, defendant filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea, which the trial court denied on May 10, 2013. On June 7, 2013, defendant filed his notice of appeal, which was granted by the trial court on June 10, 2013.

Law and Argument

On appeal, defendant raises two assignments of error regarding the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress: first, defendant argues that the confidential informant’s uncorroborated tip lacked sufficient indicia of reliability to give an officer the reasonable suspicion to warrant an investigatory stop; and second, defendant argues that the police lacked reasonable suspicion to detain defendant so the pat-down was illegal and the heroin, which was seized from his person, should have been suppressed.

In his' first assignment, defendant asserts that police officers stopped him without attempting to corroborate any information relative to the alleged heroin activity. Defendant further contends that he “was not known to the officers prior to the stop, and they did not observe him involved in any conversations or exchanges with another person, or carrying any packages which might contain drugs.”

Conversely, the State argues that a reliable and credible informant told Detective David Biondolillo specific information concerning defendant’s car, the | ¿location where defendant would be, as well as the date and time that defendant would arrive, which detectives corroborated through surveillance.

At the hearing on defendant’s motion to suppress evidence, Detective David Bion-dolillo (“Biondolillo”) testified that, since 2009, he had been employed in the Narcotics Division of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office (“JPSO”). In connection with his employment, Biondolillo had received training in the identification and packaging of narcotics for street level sale, distribution, and use. Further, Biondolillo had participated in numerous narcotics investigations, during which narcotics, including heroin, were seized by the police.

Biondolillo participated in the underlying investigation and arrest of defendant, Wardell Beal. Biondolillo stated that, as a narcotics detective, he occasionally used confidential informants to develop leads regarding narcotics distribution and possession, which he did in this investigation. In this case, a confidential informant (“C.I.”), who had always supplied reliable information, told Biondolillo that a man [127]*127nicknamed “D” would be delivering heroin to someone at the Discount Store, located at 34 West Bank Expressway in Gretna at about 3:00 p.m. on December 5, 2011. The C.I. indicated that the individual possessing the heroin would be driving an older model, green Pontiac Grand Am. The C.I. provided a physical description of “D” along with information that “D” would hold the heroin in one of two places: a pouch inside of the fly of his pants or in his pants’ pocket.

After receiving the tip, Biondolillo and other members of the Narcotics Task Force established surveillance of the business located at 34 West Bank Expressway on December 5, 2011. During the surveillance, Biondolillo was parked in a location so that he and the C.I., who was riding with him, could view the parking lot of the store. At about 2:53 p.m., an older model, green Pontiac Grand Am Rdriven by an individual who matched the physical description of the suspect pulled into the parking lot of the store. The C.I. identified the driver as Wardell Beal.

Biondolillo notified the Task Force that the suspect was in the store and instructed them to conduct an investigatory stop. Task Force members immediately detained Beal, placed him in handcuffs, then brought him out to the parking lot, where Biondolillo encountered the officers and defendant. For safety reasons, Biondolillo immediately conducted a pat-down of defendant’s exterior clothing for weapons. When Biondolillo touched defendant’s left rear pocket, Biondolillo felt a knot with a bag attached to it that was consistent with packaged narcotics. When he retrieved the bag, he observed tan powder, which, based on Biondolillo’s training and experience, was consistent with heroin. Biondo-lillo also testified that the powder field-tested positive for heroin.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court stated: “The court’s satisfied that the officer articulated the reasons for ... the Terry stop. I think the information he got from the confidential informant corroborates the facts that actually took place. I’m going to deny your motion to suppress.”

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution holds that people shall “be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.” Similarly, Article 1, § 5 of the Louisiana Constitution affords even greater protections by providing that “every person shall be secure in his person, property, communications, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches, seizures, or invasions of privacy.”

Law enforcement officers are, however, authorized by La. C. Cr. P. art. 215.1, as well as state and federal jurisprudence, to conduct investigatory stops to interrogate persons reasonably suspected of criminal activity. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968); State v. Belton, 441 So.2d 1195 (La.1983),6 cert. denied, 466 U.S. 953, 104 S.Ct. 2158, 80 L.Ed.2d 543 (1984); State v. Sam, 05-88 (La.App. 5 Cir. 5/31/05), 905 So.2d 379, 383, writ denied, 05-2100 (La.3/10/06), 925 So.2d 510. An investigatory stop necessarily involves an element of force or duress and the temporary restraint of a person’s freedom. State v. Broussard, 00-3230 (La.5/24/02), 816 So.2d 1284, 1286. There is the complete restriction of movement in an investigatory stop, but for a shorter period of time than an arrest. Id.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Harrell
258 So. 3d 1007 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2018)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
142 So. 3d 124, 13 La.App. 5 Cir. 925, 2014 WL 1923232, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 1274, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-beal-lactapp-2014.